The case wherein a former bodyguard of the Msunduzi municipality mayor is accused of murdering someone and later telling police where to find the body, has taken an unexpected twist with his version being that he fired his gun in self-defence and did not kill anyone.

Warrant Officer Teddy Moses Sithole testified in the bail application of Muzwemali Ngubane, who is charged with the murder of Nkosinathi Radebe, in the Pietermaritzburg Magistrate’s Court on Friday.

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It is alleged that on April 26, he shot and killed Radede whose body was recovered two days later in a river in Edendale.

Sithole, who arrested Ngubane, said he gave him information about the whereabouts of Radebe’s body. He told the court that Ngubane reported a case of attempted murder to the police.

During the investigation in the case, Sithole said he took Ngubane to his home to pick up his firearm. On their way Ngubane allegedly told him that he had shot someone.

Sithole said he told Ngubane about the seriousness of the matter after he disclosed that he fired shots in response to people who were shooting at him.

“He told me that someone got shot and injured. He then took his body and left it next to the river next to Edendale Mall. I asked him why he did not take the injured person to hospital or drive to the police station. He said he was confused because he had noticed that there were cars that were following him.”

Sithole added Ngubane directed him to where the body was and gave him the description of the man.

“I drove with him [Ngubane] back to the police station and left him there. I asked other members to accompany me to look for the body where he said it was. We found the body and it matched the description that he had given us.”

“He said the person was light in complexion and had dreadlocks. The description also matched that of a missing person [Radebe] that had been reported.”

Sithole said this is when he placed Ngubane under arrest.

Earlier, Lieutenant Colonel Asogan Naidoo testified that he had interviewed Ngubane about his attempted murder case and he admitted that he had also fired shots but denied that anyone got injured.

According to Naidoo, Ngubane said he had just dropped off his girlfriend when the incident happened.

“He said there were people shooting at him and he took his gun and retaliated. He said after firing several shots, his attackers ran and got into a car and left. He went home and slept, woke up the next day and attended a relative’s funeral. He only reported an attempted murder case after attending the funeral.”

Meanwhile, the defence denies that Ngubane directed police to the body. His attorney said the state’s case is weak.

“The witness [Sithole] was called to cover up because the state’s case is weak. The applicant [Ngubane] did not direct the police to where the body was, the body was discovered by Mduduzi Shezi, who then showed the police,” said the attorney.

The defence has since re-opened its case and will be calling a witness who allegedly recovered the body.

The case will resume tomorrow.